Union Hires 13 in Creative, Account and Tech Departments

Independent creative and performance marketing agency Union has hired 13 team members as it adds deeper specialisations with development, production and media including programmatic, shopper marketing and OTT. It has also experienced record growth in video production this year and expanded into broadcast.

“Our new staff members will support new and organic client growth across key accounts including Windstream, NRG and Quility,” explained Union president Banks Wilson. “Union is bolstering core competencies in data and experiences departments, such as web design, and adding to its roster of technical talent.”

The new hires are as follows:

Heather Markert - Paid Social Specialist 

Heather Markert is a paid social specialist who uses data to better understand people. Her varied background includes working for a Meredith Corporation media agency, where she was exposed to all aspects of digital advertising and spent two years in account management with a focus on data analysis, client presentation, strategy, and reporting. While working on a variety of large-scale digital campaigns, she was consistently building relationships with clients and vendors and continually saw the value in social media across campaigns and wanted to pursue that avenue in more depth. At Union, she’s responsible for paid social media strategy, setup, optimization, and reporting across popular channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest for Union’s NRG, Cosamin, Deversey, and Autobell accounts.

Kris Harris - Paid Search Specialist

Kris Harris, paid search specialist, has worked for a variety of companies ranging from local startups to global organizations since graduating from UNC. For the past several years, he has focused on search engine optimization—specifically paid search and PPC advertising. Paid search is constantly evolving, and he has stayed current on changes and applies learnings to a wide range of clients, including automotive brands and consumer packaged goods. He will continue to master the craft of paid search with Union as he focuses on the NRG East, NRG Solar+, Cosamin, Autobell, and Entec Polymers accounts.

Matt Sanchez - Art Director

Matt Sanchez is an art director and UI/UX designer with more than nine years of experience in an agency environment. His most recent focus has been in web design, but he has experience in photography, video, animation, print, and digital design, as well. At Union, he is responsible for producing creative digital experiences. He oversees campaign-wide, creative-asset development and is responsible for maintaining a high level of design quality across multiple web platforms for optimum user experience. His main client focus has been Kinetic Windstream, but he has also worked on projects for CRVA, Deversey, Racing Team Alliance, American Forest Management, National Gypsum, and Northwood Offices. 

Morgan Walton - Junior Designer

Morgan Walton is joining Union as a junior designer supporting the PepsiCo and Diversey clients. Morgan isn’t completely new to the team, having freelanced for the agency part time over the past several months. She’s a 2020 graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder.

Josh Stubbs - Data Analyst

Josh Stubbs is a data analyst who enjoys using data to make fact-based decisions in an organization. After receiving his MBA from Clemson University, Josh had the opportunity to work as a data analyst for a small recruiting firm in Charlotte (Tech Talent South). Shortly after, he found Union, which was a much better fit. His current responsibilities include creating and updating reports for clients, auditing through generated Google Analytics tags, and creating insights on client marketing campaigns for all Union clients.

Claire Outlaw - Delivery Manager

Claire Outlaw is a delivery manager who has worked for several digital marketing and branding agencies in town—including Union from 2013 to 2016. She has served in both account and project management roles, and on accounts in many different industries ranging from food and beverage, sports, private equity, home improvement, and nonprofits. Her responsibilities include keeping projects on track and on budget while proactively managing risks and escalating them when necessary; ensuring teams are equipped with everything they need to deliver work on time while maintaining internal productivity goals; and supporting the delivery director and account director in properly scoping out new business opportunities and ongoing resourcing needs as well as actively listening for opportunities to grow existing accounts. She works on several field accounts including Discovery Place, SATO, American City Business Journals, Entec Polymers, and American Forest Management. 

Bridgette Aikens - Production Coordinator

Bridgette Aikens is joining as a production coordinator on the studio team. Bridgette’s career as a freelance photographer will serve her and our team well as she supports us in all facets of video production and our day-to-day needs. Bridgette is currently based in Nashville and will move to Charlotte this October.

Liam Adams - Account Manager

Liam Adams, account manager, joins Union from Straight North and brings extensive experience in digital marketing, website creation/development and client partnerships. He will serve as the primary point of contact to drive project strategy, meaningful relationships and measurable results for Union clients. He supports a range of agency accounts, including Racing America, Discover Place, SATO and Highwoods Properties.

Brendan Martyn - Account Coordinator

Brendan Martin, account coordinator, moved to Charlotte to pursue a career in marketing. He has experience in fundraising, donor/client relations, customer service, and digital marketing, and has always focused on the importance of communication and relationship building. He felt Union was the perfect fit. As account coordinator, he’s responsible for supporting Union’s account lead and delivery team in client work and communication while maintaining an in-depth knowledge of his clients’ businesses and goals and helping facilitate organic account growth. He is currently focused on National Gypsum, CRVA, Diversey, and Windstream.

Kouame N'Dri - Front-End Tech Supervisor

Kouame N’Dri, front-end tech supervisor, has four years of experience building state-of-the-art, user-friendly experiences that consumers love. His goal is to create the best possible environments, so Union’s teams can perform at their best and deliver products that impact consumers, which allows him to stay up to date on industry trends and deliver exceptional work. Kouame has worked with companies such as Tyson, Walmart, Autodesk, Red Ventures and a few startups. Working with such a range of companies with different scales of business has led him to provide enterprise level work at startup speed. He is currently focused on American City Business Journals.

Kevin Baker - Technical Project Manager

Charlotte native Kevin Baker is Union’s newly minted technical project manager. He brings his eight years of digital project management experience to the team, where he will be working with the delivery managers and the development team to continue the great work Union’s clients have grown to expect. He previously worked for 11 years in the sports world where he spent time with the Charlotte Hornets, Charlotte Checkers, and NASCAR.

Brandon Rogers - Kentico Tech Lead

Brandon Rogers is the Kentico tech lead for Union’s Kentico CMS projects. He has worked in both the private and public sectors. His employers have included the Ohio Attorney General's Office, Franklin County of Ohio, Things Remembered, and ascena retail group, which comprises Lane Bryant, Justice for Kids, Dress Barn, Maurices, and Catherines. Brandon received an MBA with a focus in information technology management from Western Governors University. His current client focus at Union is Windstream.